Parachute device



March 15, 1938. s. SWITLIK PARACHUTE DEVICE Filed Jan. 17, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR g WM March 15, 1938. s. SWITLIK PARACHUTE DEVICEFiled Jan. 17, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 15, 1938UNITED STATES PABACHUTE DEVICE Stanley Switlik, Trenton, N. 1., asaignorto James Hale Strong, Trenton, N. J.

Application January 17, 1935, Serial No. 2,138

18 Claims.

determined height where it is released eitherautomatically or manuallythus permitting the jumper to drift to the ground supported bythe canopyin simulation of a free jump.

The skirt of the canopy is held in an open condition at all times sothat, when the canopy is released from the elevating means, it willinflate immediately uponthe initiation of the downward movement and willthus produce the full effect of a free parachute jump with no danger ofa too rapid descent.

The size of the parachute canopy is, of course, calculated with relationto the average load so that it will descend with the load at apredetermined and safe speed.

Provision is made so that as the parachute descends freely it willdriftin a predetermined and controllable direction, in one form of thein-' vention. In another form of the invention, however, the parachuteis guided in its descent while falling free nevertheless.

In either form, when the canopy is released at the upper extent of itstravel it descends in 5 is to say the jumper is entirely supported bythe canopy and the canopy is unsupported except by the resistance of theair.

It will thus be seen that the device may be used as a training device inthe teaching of parachute jumping for the jumper will at all times bewithin hearing distance. of the instructor and will be subjected to thedescending conditions that are encountered in free jumps. Thus thejumper may become accustomed to jumping conditions before jumping fromgreater heights.

Moreover, as 'an amusement device it will aflord all of the thrill ofparachute jumping without any of the attendant dangers.

While I have illustrated certain forms of the invention I do not wish tobe limited thereto except as is necessitated by the claims appended,

, hereto.

55 In the drawings:

what is known in the art as a "free jump", that i Figure 1 is a plainview or one form of the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the form shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail showing the canopy open.

Figure 4-is a section on line 4-4 of Figure 5.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a modified form of the invention shown in section on line6--6 of Figure '7.

Figure '7 is a side elevation of the form shown in Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a side elevation of another form of the invention, and

Figure 9 is a fragmentary view of a modified means for holding thecanopy on the ring that maintains the skirt of the canopy open.

Referring to the form of the invention disclosedin Figure 1, a mast I isprovided with a boom 2 at the top thereof. The mast is mounted on abearing 3 that permits the rotation of the mast around a vertical axisthus permitting the boom Ito be swung to extend in any outward directionIrom the mast for a purpose that will later appear.

The mast and boom are supported by guy wires 4 and 5 that are attachedto anchors 6 by suitable detachable fasteners at I. It is to be notedthat the anchors 6 are located in a circular'path surrounding the mastso that when the mast and boom are to be rotated the guy wires may bedetached from the anchors to which they are attached and reattached tothe proper anchors corresponding with the movement of the mast and boom.

The purpose of this mast and boom is to support an elevating cable 8that passes over suitable pulleys 9 and is adapted to be wound upon andunwound from a brake controlled winch In that is actuated by a suitablemeans such as an electric motor ll.

The free end of the cable 8 is provided, preferably, with a weight 12 sothat, when the winch I0 is unbraked, the free end of the cable willautomatically descend.

A parachute canopy I3 is provided which canopy is of the usual form. Theskirt of this canopy is maintained open by suitable means such as a ringl4 and the canopy supports a carrier l5 for the jumper, which carriermay be of any desirable form but which I have shown in the form of aharness.

The ring II is made up of a plurality of sections that are detachablyheld together at 16 and the ring passes through tapes I! on the canopyso that the canopy is secured to the ring at a plurality of points.

As a matter of fact there is a tape H at each edge of each of the panelsof the canopy so that each panel will be attached to the ring at eachseam.

The ring it is made of a plurality of detachable sections so that it maybe inserted through the tape loops i1 and so that it may be disassembledfor the convenience in shipping.

In another form, shown in Figure 9, the ring is continuous and carrieseyelets l8 to which the canopy i3 is attached by releasable fasteners,such as snap hooks IS. a

I have found these two means of maintaining the skirt of the parachuteopen to be effective but it is, of course, obvious that other means maybe used and for that reason I have claimed this feature broadly.

The diameter of the ring it is less than the diameter of the skirt ofthe parachute canopy and the panels of the canopy are attached to thering I so that the distance between the attaching means, that is to say,the tape loops H or snap hooks I9, is less than the width of the panelof the canopy at its lower end. This allows the canopy to inflate in theusual manner.

The shroud lines that attach the carrier or harness ii to the canopy aredrawn together in two groups 20 and 2| and attached as groups to thecarrier. In the form of the invention shown in Figures 1 and 2 the group2| of shroud lines adjacent the mast l are longer than the group 20remote from the mast. Thus when a Jumper is in the carrier the ring I!and the skirt of the canopy will be tilted upwardly adjacent the mast.This will permit the air to spill out of the canopy on the side adjacentthe mast and will cause the canopy to drift, in its descent, away fromthe mast.

In order that the parachute assembly may be elevated and eitherautomatically or manually released I have provided the free end of thecable! with a releasable fastener 22 which engages a ring, or othersnitable means, 23 attached to the peak of the canopy and is adapted tobe automatically released therefrom by a suitable releasing device 24. Ihave shown the releasable fastener and the releasing meansconventionally as any well known mechanism may be used. The releasablefastener 22 is provided with an operating cord 25 so that, should thejumper desire, he may release the canopy at any point ofits upwardtravel. Thus selectivity in this respect is provided for.

In operation, the mast i is first adjusted, if there is any wind, sothat the boom 2 extends ,in the direction of but away from the wind, so

that there will be a tendency of the parachute to drift away'from themast in its descent. The free end of the cable 8 is then permitted tolower andthe parachute secured to the cable by means of the releasablefastener 22 and the ring 23. After the jumper has been placed in thecarrier l5 and secured therein the winch I is actuated to raise theparachute assembly and the jumper when the parachute reaches the extentof its upward travel, which is only controlled by the distance of theboom from the ground, the releasable fastener 22 engages its releasingmeans 24 and is automatically disengaged from the ring 23, thusreleasing the parachute. The parachute, at the initiation of itsdescent. completely inflates and the jumper drifts t0 the ground in theusual manner.

The spilling of the air from the canopy by reason of the tilting of theskirt of the parachute canopy augments the eifect of the wind in causingthe parachute to drift away from the mast, when there is a wind, andwhen there is no wind, causes such a drift.

Should the jumper desire, he may release the parachute from theelevating means at any point in his upward travel by releasing thefastener 22 by means of the cord 25 that may be brought within hisreach.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 7 a guide 26 that extendsthroughout the extent of travel of the parachute is provided. I haveshown this guide in the form of a taut wire but it, of course, may takeother forms. The ring N that holds the skirt of the parachute canopyopen is provided with an eyelet 21 through which the guide 26 passes.This eyelet is freely slidable on the guide 26 so that the canopy isguided in its descent without in any way interfering with the free fall.i

In this form the shroud lines may all be of the same lengths or they maybe, as in the form shown in Figure 1, longer adjacent the mast thanremote from the mast so that there will be a tendency of the canopy topull away from the mast.

In this form shown in Figure 7 I have provided a support 28 on theground directly in the path of descent of the canopy so that when thecanopy reaches the support it will come to rest thereon, the ring itresting on the horizontal bed of the support.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 8 the form of Figure 7 ismodified to the extent that the support 28 is dispensed with and theguide 26 is provided with a stop 29 with which the eyelets 21 engage.Thus the canopy will come to rest in the position shown in Figure 8,sufficiently raised to permit the jumper to walk beneath the canopy.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a parachute device in which aparachute canopy, the skirt of which is maintained open and whichsupports a jumper, is raised to a desired height and eitherautomatically or manually released and in which the canopy with its loadfloats to the ground as a free jump.

I haveillustrated the elevating means as in cluding a mast and a boom onwhich operate an elevating cable but it is conceivable that other formsof elevating means may be used and I, therefore, have claimed this phaseof the invention broadly.

It is here stated that under certain conditions it may be desirable to,in the form of the invention disclosed in Figure 1, make all of theshroud lines of equal lengths. My invention contemplates such aconstruction.

What I claim is:

1. A parachute device, including a tower, a cable extensible from saidtower, a canopy releasably attached to the cable, a carrier attached tothe canopy, means for retracting said cable to elevate the canopy andcarrier, automatically operable means for releasing said canopy andcarrier from said cable at a definite point in the upward travel of thecanopy and carrier.

2. A parachute device including a tower, a boom extending from saidtower, the boom being adjustable to extend outwardly from the tower invarious directiona a cable extensible from the boom, a parachute canopycarried by said cable, a carrier attached to said canopy, means forremeeting said cable and means for releasing said canopy and carrierfrom said cable.

3. A parachute device including a tower, a boom extending from saidtower, the boom being adjustable to extend outwardly from' the tower invarious directions, a cable extensible from the boom, a parachute canopycarried by said cable, a carrier attached to said canopy, means forretracting said cable and automatically operable means for releasingsaid canopy and carrier from said cable at a definite point in theupward travel of the canopy. I

4. A parachute device including a tower, a boom extendingfrom saidtower, the boom being adjustable to extend outwardly from the tower invarious directions, a cable extensible from the boom, a parachute canopycarried by said cable, a carrier attached to said canopy, means, forretracting said cable and means for releasing said canopy and carrierfrom said cable and means for controlling the direction of driit of saidcanopy during its free descent.

5. A parachute device including a tower, a cable extensible from saidtower, a parachute canopy releasably attached to the cable, means formaintaining the skirt of the canopy open, a carrier attached to thecanopy, means for retracting said cable to elevate said canopy andcarrier, automatically operable means for releasing said canopy fromsaid cable at a definite point in the upward traveloi the canopy.

6- A parachute device including a tower,aca-

ble extensible from said tower, a parachute can-- opy releasablyattached to the cable, a carrier attached to the canopy, means forretracting said cable to elevate the canopy and carrier, automaticallyoperable means for releasing said canopy from said cable at a definitepoint in the upward travel of the canopy, and means for guiding-thecanopy in its free descent.

7. A parachute device including a parachute canopy, a carrier attachedthereto, a ring for maintaining the skirt of the canopy open, means forelevating the canopy and carrier, means for releasing the canopy fromthe elevating means, means for guiding the canopy in its free descent,and means for arresting the canopy at a predetermined point in itsdescent, said means including a platform for supporting the ring.

8. A parachute device including a parachutecanopy, a carrier attachedthereto, a ring for maintaining the skirtoi the canopy open, means forelevating the canopy and carrier, means for releasing the canopy fromthe elevating'means, J

means including an eyelet on said ring and a vertical guide on which theeyelet freely slides, for guiding the canopy in its free descent.

9. A parachute device, including a tower, acable extensible from saidtower, a parachute canopy releasablygattached to the cable, 'a carrierattached to the canopy, means for retracting said cable to-elevate thecanopy and carrier, automaticallyoperable means for releasing saidcanopy from said cable at a definite point in the upward travel of thecanopy, and means for guiding the canopy in its free descent, said cableand guiding means being adjustable to various points of the compass.

10. A parachute device, including a canopy, a carrier attached thereto,means for elevating the canopy and carrier with relation to theelevating means, means for releasing the canopy for a free descent,means for guiding said canopy in its descent, and means for arrestingthe canopy at a definite point in its descent.

11. A parachute device including a canopy, a carrier attached thereto,means supported by the ground for elevating the canopy and carrier, saidmeans permitting the canopy to descend, and means for guiding the canopyin its descent, said last mentioned means including aguide extendingdownwardly from the upper point of travel of the canopy and a slidingconnection between the canopy and said guide.

12. In a parachute device, a tower, a boom extending from the tower, acable extending from the boom, means for retracting the cable, saidmeans also permitting the extension of the cable, a parachute canopyattached peak first to the cable means for completely extending theskirt of the canopy, and a carrier attached to the canopy by shroudlines.

13. In a parachute device, a canopy, means attached to the peak of thecanopy for elevating the canopy peak first, a ring attached to the skirtof the canopy to maintain the same horizontally extended and to preventthe edge 01' the skirt of .the canopy from moving out of a substantiallyhorizontal position during the elevation of the canopy.

14. A parachute device including a canopy. a

' carrier attached thereto, means for permanently extending the skirt ofthe canopy and means attached to the peak of the canopy to elevate thecanopy and carrier and for completely extending the canopy vertically.

15. A parachute device including a canopy, means supported by the groundfor elevating the canopy and releasable means for attaching the canopyto the elevating means.

16. A parachute device including a canopy, means for maintaining theskirt of the canopy permanently extended, means supported by the groundfor elevating the canopy, and means for releasably attaching the canopyto the elevating means. i

1'7. In a parachute device, a canopy and means for maintaining the skirtof the canopy completely extended at all times, means for elevating thecanopy, said means also permitting it to descend, and means formaintaining the canopy captive during its descent.

18. In a parachute device, a, parachute canopy, means attached to thepeak of the canopy for elevating the canopy, and means for maintainingthe skirt of the canopy extended, said first named means also preventingthe vertical collapse of the canopy during its elevation.

STANLEY BWI'I'IJK.

